Table 2.

Clinical Care and Intervention Recommendations

1. Use patient-centered language when inquiring about patients’ social support and social connections (e.g., “Is there someone who can read you and sense how you are doing?” or “Let’s identify someone who you think can really be there for you.”)

2. Develop interventions that provide in-depth training of skills possessed by close supports (sensing others’ emotional needs and communicate openly but indirectly about depression).

3. Consider modifying safety plans templates to emphasize identifying others who can “be there” or are skilled in acting as a close support (e.g., be in close physical proximity, provide frequent/responsive social contact, sense emotional state).

4. Create, pre-test, and evaluate messages for use in suicide prevention campaigns that target patients and counter their belief that asking someone to “be there” is a burden or worrisome to the support person.